Klarinet Archive - Posting 001143.txt from 2004/03

From: "Thomas" <thomas@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Re: no child left behind
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 16:47:45 -0500

Donna: >>Well, Asperger's was only recognized by the medical profession
about a dozen
years ago. This huge increase is likely due in large part to more awareness
of
what Asperger's and autism are, and allows kids to receive a diagnosis who
in
previous years would have just been labeled as "dumb" or "weird." Wasn't
Einstein thought to be retarded at one point?<<

Yep. He was. And you're exactly right. Doctors now know what to look
for, so they can diagnose it. And truthfully, the grant money for research
is finally rolling in, and the research is just now being done. It takes a
while to get the grant money, so I think we are just now seeing the
beginning of these kinds of studies. Probably due to the pressure from the
lobby group. The autism lobby is Huge. Then again, if mercury is to
blame, then they may be doing this all of a sudden in order to cover up the
major screwup I think the drug companies have made. I personally think
autism is caused by mercury preying on a specific genetic trait.

For 10 years no one knew what was wrong with my son. DuPont Hospital's
Director of Developmental Pediatrics saw him herself when he was 3. They
told me it was "Encephalopathy" aka Brain Problem (like, no duh) so the
insurance would pay for the visit. Even *I* knew he was autistic back then,
because I did research on the internet. That was when people were just
starting to buy home computers, so the only really good places there were to
go, were listservs like this. But I needed a real diagnosis, and never got
one until Penn gave us one last winter. (Took four years to get an
appointment there, they are seriously messed up!)

Now, Donna, you know my son, you've seen him. Well, he is fairly typical of
Aspies. Looks fairly normal (except for the gaze that does not always meet
yours - which is one of the biggest indicators of autism), walks like one,
too. But people think he's retarded, because of the way he talks. He talks
like Yoda, with a fairly monotone voice, for lack of a better description.
(To the store I am going.) They call that the "little professor".
Remember John Nash? In A Beautiful Mind? Yep.

I belong to an AS mailing list, and we get the kids together once a year.
Let me tell you, he's in his element. It's nice to get kids together when
they can all feel like they belong. But as alike as these kids are, every
one of them is different. Some strike out, they are very emotional. Some
are anxious. Some have serious sensory issues. Bug would have those, but I
told you guys what we did with the trumpet to stifle that. :) Some are
very high IQ, some aren't. Some have other issues along with the autism.

In any case, it's finally being looked into, and that's the result of a lot
of mad parents. I just wish no one had to get mad before something got
done.

Lynn

Lynn

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